I HATE Slipjoints

C

Confederate

Joined
Sep 5, 2005
Messages
2,826
Yeah, I gotta admit I do.

Though I don't blame anyone for liking them. It's all a matter of taste, really. I mean, they're tiny, they don't lock securely, and they're expensive little devils. It's not that they don't have their uses. They can open packages, cut articles out of newspapers and magazines and cut through pieces of thread. They're even kind of purty, and I can see why some folks would collect them. But I still hate them. All the ones I've had in the past have corroded a bit between the liners and the spring when pocket carried.

Then there was the time I was cutting some wood and the blade became lodged. When I maneuvered the blade around to extract it, it snapped back and bit me. It didn't close all the way; in fact, it just snapped enough to whack me in the side of my finger. I wasn't badly hurt, but there was enough blood to shake up my parents. The knife was a little Case with little stag grips. Nicely made and very sharp.

Now I'm not trying to incite a debate, because I shouldn't have had my finger where the blade could find it. It's just personal taste, and how can one debate that? (It's like debating colors.) I'm just curious if other people out there groan when they get a Smokey Mountain catalog and see not only so many slipjoints, but so many Frost slipjoints! Someone must buy 'em, otherwise, there wouldn't be so many of them.
 
Nope. love slippies. :D

Know how to use them and they can do anything (well, almost) that a locking blade can.

I do, however, understand your distaste. They are not for everyone, kind of like nessmuks or balisongs. no shame in liking different things. it's what makes things fun in life.

besides, one less person to fight with over that ray cover.

:)

Brett
 
Slippes have a place in my pocket. I like the style, the detail work you can do with thin blades and the sheeple factor. I carry a small jack knife along with a 3-4" locking folder. Different situations call for different tools.
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I like them all, slippies, liner locks, frame locks, front locks, rear locks and anything else sharp and pointy. My EDC's are a liner lock from WH and a custom slippie.:D:D
James
 
You can't overstate the sheeple factor, if it is a concern. Almost everyone has/had a dad or grand dad that carried a slipjoint of some sort. Whip out a strider and you get looks like "who you gonna kill next," whip out a slippy and "its like the one dad had."
 
I understand your distaste, Confederate. If we all had the same opinion though then this board would be a boring place or not here at all.

I typically only carry framelocks as an EDC, but do have a few slipjoints in my meager collection. I think my SAK is the only one I've every 'carried', but that was years ago. I like slipjoints but more for their aesthetic value and traditional/sentimental factor. I can't think of what would make me buy one nowadays, but do sometimes admire them in a store display cabinet or catalogue.
 
I like slippies.

My favorite being a two bladed Barlow pattern.

I see slippies as being good edc non threatening letter openers/apple peelers.

I always have a fixed on hand to handle heavier chores. Cutting up really thick boxes etc....

I agree with you on the overload of Frost slippies in the catalog but I like to look at the Case and other nice ones...
 
Carry one every day and use it more than my other carry knife. Toting a Case large Gunstock pattern at the moment along with my BM 610 Rukus. Just guess which one I'll pull out in company and use to cut that thread or that tag.:D Yep, I love 'em all also, even though there are some I would NEVER own, much less carry...........they are still KNIVES!!
 
I've been bit more by slippies than by the others, but all have got me at some time or another. I don't trust them nearly as much as slip joints...not much at all. Now that I buy my own knives, I buy lock backs and fixed. I don't hate slippies, but I won't buy them. There's enough locking blades to keep me busy.
 
I do not hate slippies, but have no desire to purchase them. When I was a young lad, I had a slippie close under pressure and lodge itself in the middle of my index fingers knuckle. I had to have it removed at the hospital. Granted the fault was all mine, and as a 10 yr. old little boy I learned the hard way. However, I just seem to gravitate towards locking blades ever since then. Wonder why?
Good craftsmanship is on both sides of the folder world, and collecters live in both as well. I work construction and love the woods, so locking blades serve me best. Favorites are frame locks followed by the Axis.
 
I tend to like all kinds - slippies, liner locks, lock back, fixed blade - own all of them. Each has its use but they are all good - just like your kids (well, most of your kids anyway)......
 
I carried and used slipjoints for years as my main EDC. Some days I still do. And even if I have a locking blade in my pocket, I always have a Vic Classic on my keyring. Sometimes it gets used even when I have a larger knife with me.

Steel is steel. It's all good.
 
I have a few SAKs and a custom Scagel-style by Ray Kirk with a forged blade. Can't complain much about them not locking, as I used a tinker and mechanic for years working on autos and in the oilfield, but I still carry one handed locking tools now for speed & versatility.

I often see the thin blades being mentioned as a plus for slippies. I agree, thin blades are good, that's why I have locking folders with thin blades :).
 
Cut myself bad with a Slippie as a kid. Young and dumb, and learned a lot that day. But never grew to like them again. Not scared, just edumicated. Gimme a lock, period.
 
My SAK is in my pocket every day and it's a slippie. I like slip joints. No one gets excited when you get it out of your pocket like some knives. I carry a slip joing deer hunting too. First knife was a slip joint.
 
There is something very visually attractive about a well made slip joint. They have a strange appeal that makes me want to pick them up and fondle them. I mostly carry tactical (as in the actual definition of tactical) folders for obvious reasons, but I hope to also pick up a nice slip joint with four or more blades some day.
 
Slipjoints don't spontaneously close on one's fingers. They must be made to close.

The thing about folding knives, whether they are locking or not, is that they are always, first and foremost, folding knives. If you want security against unexpectedly closing up, you use a fixed blade. Relying on a lock (which can and do fail), to compensate for risky use, is like relying on a gun's safety to prevent an accidental discharge. Such mechanical things fail. Putting faith in such things can be foolhardy.
 
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